Daily Times

By kicking the default risk further down the road, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has finally checked one of the boxes on his agenda; giving a much-needed boost to the ruling party’s PR campaign.

That Pakistan has managed to repay a $1 billion international bond to mark the end of one of the hardest years in its history is no small feat. And similarly encouraging have been the tidings from our Saudi brethren who have once again decided to rescue us from the baggage of our own wrongdoings. Getting a breather on the $3 billion loan from Saudi Arabia should provide the cash-strapped country with a great opportunity to take stock of its policies so that it can at least try to tread upon the golden path of growth. Sometimes, good things can also come in threes. Prices of everyday essentials have registered a marginal decline for the first time in the last seven weeks.

A slightly overenthusiastic finance ministry is also busy tooting the horn over a phenomenal shrinkage (30 per cent) in the trade deficit. Ergo, one would imagine the ship to have finally headed for calm waters. However, there appears an after-kick to this “all-is-well” mantra as a second glance reveals glass is not as half-full, after all. The state has been pushed to such a crippling crossroads that December bonds can no longer cast a magic spell and close the book on our vulnerability. No matter how big of a diplomatic success, Saudi money still needs to be paid off next year. As for the trade deficit and a slight ease in the market conditions, Pakistan is doing nothing whatsoever at the moment to strengthen its economy.

Curtailed imports only work wonders when a country actively pursues the development of its domestic economy. Since a long list of finance ministers have shoved the common man under the butcher’s knife in the name of “hard choices,” the masses, too, have gotten exasperated with their neverending sacrifices. Mr Dar needs to realise that now is not the time to let the guns do the talking. He has run out of any room for error. He needs to reassure the IMF that Pakistan is on the right track and enthuse new confidence in the businesses about the potential of his policies while battling the party pressures to once again take the voter on board. This can only be done by an unprecedented movement to increase the tax net and raise a formidable export sector. Everything else would do nothing but add noise to an already cacophonous room. *